Steve Meehan was less than impressed with Alex Crockett's sending-off as Bath went down to a 36-27 defeat to Gloucester.
Bath boss less than impressed after Crockett dismissal
Bath coach Steve Meehan failed to hide his frustrated with Alex Crockett's sending-off as his side went down to a 36-27 defeat to table-toppers Gloucester at Kingsholm.
Gloucester extended their lead over to Sale to six points with the win, a victory sealed by former Recreation Ground favourite Olly Barkley's two penalties in the last 10 minutes.
Gloucester grabbed four tries through centre James Simpson-Daniel (two), wing Charlie Sharples and scrum-half Rory Lawson - against two touchdowns by hooker Rob Hawkins and one by wing Andrew Higgins for Bath.
But Bath were hampered by Crockett's dismissal, for persistent offside and then tackling Sharples without the ball.
There were two further yellow cards, for Gloucester pair Nick Wood and Anthony Allen.
Interesting decision
It was Crockett's two yellows, though, which upset Meehan: "I was angry, particularly with the first one," he said.
"I don't know how they got that ruling of him being offside. I know the team were on two warnings - but whether it was a mistake or not, I don't know.
"The call came from the assistant referee. It is a big call and it's quite clear on the video that there were a lot of players further up the field than Crockett - so how do we come up with that one? It's an interesting decision."
Meehan, while annoyed with the decisions, admitted there were other factors which led to his side's derby day defeat.
"We made far too many individual errors," he admitted. "Three minutes in the first half, we gave away 14 points - and there were 25 minutes in the first half where we didn't control the ball at all.
Clinical
"We just didn't put Gloucester under enough pressure - so we were frustrated at some of the decisions that were going against us and some of the decisions which were not being made at all.
"We are bitterly disappointed to come away with nothing."
Gloucester head coach
Dean Ryan described the match as one of the best he has seen between these two sides.
"For 80 minutes, we were clinical," he said. "But, just because you are clinical does not mean you get a result. I thought they were tremendous. I'm disappointed they got a try, with us falling asleep - but those things happen.
"I thought it was a fantastic game of rugby, which both sides threw themselves into.
"When you consider we have eight or nine players who are not here because of the Six Nations - and they have a few as well - then credit to both clubs.
"That game shows that both clubs deserve to be where they are - which is top of the league."
